WWALS Watershed Coalition advocates for conservation and stewardship of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

“The initial project location is the farthest that mining activity would be
from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) boundary and the Okefenokee
Swamp. Any additional mining that occurs within the 12,000-acre permit area would be
closer to the refuge. The northwest boundary of the permit area is within a half mile from
the refuge boundary and 400 feet from the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp.”

FWS also spelled out the bottom line:
“It is the responsibility of the permit applicant to demonstrate what the extent of impacts of the project will be to surrounding natural resources.”

And the applicant still has not done that, not even in its second application.

A few miners profiting by selling titanium dioxide for paint is nowhere near sufficient reason to risk the unique treasure that is the Okefenokee Swamp, which is also the headwaters of both the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers.

“The initial project location is the farthest that mining activity would be
from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) boundary and the Okefenokee
Swamp. Any additional mining that occurs within the 12,000-acre permit area would be
closer to the refuge. The northwest boundary of the permit area is within a half mile from
the refuge boundary and 400 feet from the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp,”
wrote the Fish and Wildlife Service to Senator David Purdue.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) wrote that in response to an inquiry by Senator David Perdue of Georgia.
Sen. Perdue also asked if FWS actually had jurisdiction over the proposed mining area, and FWS replied saying that it did have several kinds of oversight.

But FWS spelled out the bottom line:
“It is the responsibility of the permit applicant to demonstrate what the extent of impacts of the project will be to surrounding natural resources.”

And the applicant still has not done that, not even in its second application.

No longer discussing the northern reaches of its landholdings much
doesn’t mean Continue reading →